C.Andrews Vickers Aircraft since 1908 (Putnam)

In 1916 a single-seat fighter to take the Vickers-sponsored Hart radial engine was designed by R. K. Pierson. This was the F.B.16 tractor and was known as the Hart Scout. The Hart engine proved as disappointing as previous power units (such as the Boucier) sponsored by Vickers. After considerable redesign the type reappeared as the F.B.16A with a 150 hp Hispano Suiza, a French-designed water-cooled engine then coming into favour with the British air authorities. Later the more powerful 200 hp Hispano Suiza was substituted, and in this form the aeroplane became the F.B.16D. It earned the unqualified praise of Maj J. B. McCudden, the British air ace, of 56 Squadron, whose book on five years in the RFC remains the classic on air fighting and the technology thereof in the first world war. In this book he describes vividly, as follows, his experiences in flying the all-red F.B.16D at Joyce Green, where he was a constant visitor when on leave from France. 'On 22 June, 1917, I flew the little Vickers tractor, the F.B.16D, which was now fitted with a 200 hp Wolseley-Hispano. I climbed to 10,000 ft in eight minutes and at that height the machine did 136 mph. Whilst flying that machine I got some idea of the speed of future machines, for at 10,000 ft it was 30 mph faster at least than anything I had yet flown. Harold Barnwell liked this little machine, although he said it cost him a new pair of trousers every time he flew it, as it always smothered his legs with oil. It has a very deep fuselage rather out of proportion to the size of the machine and Barnwell always alluded to it as "Pot-Belly".' McCudden was keen to take the F.B.16D with him to his Squadron in France, but it was not the policy to allow pilots, however distinguished, to have, at the Front, personal aircraft which differed from standard equipment. He therefore left the F.B.16D at Joyce Green when he returned to France, where he was killed in an accident to his S.E.5a before reaching his base. The F.B.16D never went into production because large contracts had been placed for the contemporary S.E.5a, particularly with Vickers at Crayford and Weybridge, and because the engine in the Vickers fighter was inaccessible for servicing and maintenance in the field. But it embodied an unusual feature for a British aeroplane. A Lewis gun was installed between the vee formed by the cylinder blocks and fired through the hollow propeller-shaft which rotated through gearing above the engine crankshaft. How the ammunition drums were changed or whether a belt feed was substituted, or, indeed, how the empty cartridge cases were collected or jettisoned, remains unexplained. A derivative of the type, the F.B.16E, was made, under licence by S. A. Darracq in France, with larger two-bay wings to cater for the extra weight of the 275 hp Lorraine-Dietrich engine, but it did not go into large-scale production there.

H.King Armament of British Aircraft (Putnam)

F.B.16. The original F.B.16 single-seat fighter (built mid-1916) had one Vickers gun mounted centrally ahead of the pilot, with the coaming rising sharply to fair-in the breech casing. Ejection chutes low in the flanks of the fuselage indicate that the system devised by G. M. Challenger, which will be described and illustrated in Volume 2, was incorporated. The F.B.16A likewise had a centrally mounted Vickers gun, but in this instance the gun was enclosed in a long fairing and was supplemented by a Lewis gun mounted above the centre-section. The F.B.16D had no Vickers gun, but in addition to a Lewis gun mounted above the top wing, offset to starboard, there was a second Lewis gun mounted between the cylinder banks of the Hispano-Suiza engine and firing through the hollow airscrew shaft. Sharply contrasting in armament was the F.B.16E, with its two Vickers guns in long fairings ahead of the cockpit and a bracket for a Lewis gun on the rear spar of the top wing, offset to starboard. Armament weight was given as 176 lb, suggesting that installation of the Lewis gun was a firm intention.

Jane's All The World Aircraft 1919

THE VICKERS F.B. 16 H.

The Vickers F.B. 16 H. is a single-seater fighting Scout type. The planes are rather heavily staggered and fitted with two pairs of interplane struts either side of the fuselage. No centre section is fitted, the planes being fixed direct to the inverted Vee type pylons in front of the pilot's seat. The upper plane is well cut away over the pilot's cockpit to give a clear view upwards. The tail-unit consists of a large fin and unbalanced rudder and a tail plane and divided elevator, the fin and tail plane being well braced above and below with Rafwire lacing. The elevator controls are outside the fuselage. The armament consists of two fixed Vickers guns which are fitted inside the fuselage synchronised to fire to the propeller.

W.Green, G.Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters

VICKERS F.B.16 UK

Conceived, like the F.B.12, to utilise the 150 hp Hart engine, the F.B.16 was designed by Rex K Pierson. Completed and flown in the summer of 1916, it was a single-bay staggered biplane with a fuselage faired out fully to an elliptical cross section, the Hart engine being partly cowled, and armament consisting of a single centrally-mounted synchronised 0.303-in (7,7-mm) Vickers gun. During the course of testing, the part-cowling was removed from the engine to improve cooling, the decking aft of the cockpit was cut down and new vertical tail surfaces were fitted. With the ending of Hart engine development, the basic F.B.16 underwent very considerable redesign, reappearing as the F.B.16A with a 150 hp Hispano-Suiza water-cooled Vee-eight engine. This aircraft was destroyed in a crash on 20 December 1916, but a second identical aircraft was completed in the following month. The F.B.16A had flat fuselage sides and the single synchronised Vickers gun was supplemented by a Lewis mounted above the centre section. After receiving favourable reports during Martlesham Heath trials, it was re-engined with a 200 hp Hispano-Suiza engine as the F.B.16D, a wider-chord wing being fitted, with both gap and stagger increased, and a larger vertical tail fitted. The synchronised Vickers gun was replaced by a Lewis firing through the hollow propeller shaft. Because large contracts had been placed for the contemporary S.E.5a, particularly with Vickers, and because Martlesham Heath evaluation contained numerous design criticisms of which rectification would have been time consuming, the F.B.16D was not ordered into production. Nonetheless, work on a further development, the F.B.16E allegedly returned performance figures unsurpassed by any of its contemporaries, but no production order was placed, and on 29 July 1918, the prototype crashed after its propeller disintegrated. The following data relate to the F.B.16D.

Журнал Flight

Flight, June 12, 1919.

"MILESTONES"

THE VICKERS MACHINES

The F.B. 16. (Dec, 1916)

This machine was a small tractor scout designed to take the Hart engine. As the Hart engine was still only in the experimental stage, the machine was modified to take the 150 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine. It was ready in December, 1916. On December 20, 1916, Messrs. Vickers' test pilot, the late Mr. Barnwell, being then indisposed, the late Capt. Simpson, R.F.C., was deputed to make the test flights. He proceeded to loop, dive and stall, and after the third loop, it was observed by those on the ground that something was happening to the planes. However, the pilot regained control, and at 50 ft., when everybody thought that the danger had been overcome, the machine suddenly dived straight into the ground, Capt. Simpson sustaining fatal injuries. After a full enquiry, instructions were received by Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., from the War Office to build another machine similar in every detail. The second machine was ready in January, 1917, and was tested by the firm's own pilot. By careful and systematic investigation, it was discovered that the weakness lay in the leading edges of the planes. This was an unforeseen trouble arising out of the general increase in the speed of aircraft at this period. It is of interest to note that the same trouble developed in a contemporary machine which was ultimately fitted with a solid 3-ply leading edge to overcome this difficulty. This second F.B. 16, known as the F.B. 16A, was then sent on to the Testing Squadron at Martlesham Heath, from where an excellent report on its all-round performance was received. According to official tests, it beat the S.E. 5 and other types with similar engines, but the Air Board rightly decided that it would be unwise to disturb production of existing orders at a critical time.

F.B.16D - known to Barnwell as 'Pot Belly', and the favourite hack of the British ace McCudden; in the centre of the spinner the exit hole for bullets from the engine-mounted machine-gun can be seen. The engine is a 150 h.p. Hispano-Suiza

With a number of Spad-like features, the Vickers FB16 fighter was designed around the Hart radial engine, although following problems with this it was given a 150hp Hispano-Suiza and appeared as the FB.16D. Pilots such as James McCudden (in June 1917) were impressed: 'at 10.000ft it was 30 mph faster at least than anything I had yet flown.' However, this promising type was not put into production.